2 minute read
Editorial insights
Rebecca Harcourt, Managing Editor
Welcome to Issue 62 of THE BOTANIC GARDENer. I’d like to acknowledge that I live and work in Copacabana, NSW, on the land of the Garigal Clan of the Wannanginni Guringai people, who are the ancestral custodians of Bulbararing, Allagai and Tdjudibaring, and pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
While researching this issue’s theme, Fighting the extinction battle – the crucial role of botanic gardens in threatened species conservation, I came across a report from the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew containing some sobering statistics – 45% of known flowering plant species are at risk of extinction (1). It’s also thought that 77% of the estimated 100,000 species of vascular plants still be described are likely to be threatened. Botanic gardens are surely the best places to combat these threats.
The 3,000+ botanic gardens worldwide contain 41% of plants classified as threatened (2). Many of these gardens have the facilities, skills and expertise to tackle the extinction crisis. This issue contains articles from three such gardens, the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan, the Australian National Botanic Gardens and Auckland Botanic Gardens. These articles also highlight the value of botanic gardens working collaboratively to protect threatened species, not just with other gardens, but with local, state and federal governments, traditional owners, networking organisations, and others.
After reading this issue, I think botanic gardens are the not‑so‑secret weapons in the fight against plant extinction.
Rebecca
P.S. I’d be very interested to hear any feedback on this issue or suggestions for future themes. Please feel free to email me at managing.editor@bganz.org.au.
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. State of the world’s plants and fungi 2023 https://doi.org/10.34885/wnwn 6s63
Westwood, M, Cavender, N, Meyer, A, et al. (2021). Botanic garden solutions to the plant extinction crisis. Plants People Planet, 3(1):22–32. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ppp3.10134
